“We remain very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from our supply chain and is out of all McDonald’s restaurants,” the fast-food chain’s Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Pina said in a statement.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture said that all subsamples from multiple lots of McDonald’s brand fresh and frozen beef patties had tested negative for E. coli, adding that it had completed beef testing and does not anticipate receiving further samples.

McDonald’s said it would resume distribution of fresh supplies of the Quarter Pounder and that it is expected to be available in all restaurants in the coming week, according to the statement.

Regulators had been investigating whether McDonald’s beef patties could be affected.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

E. coli is killed in beef when cooked properly. The McDonald’s Quarter Pounder is served with raw, slivered onions; affected restaurants will serve the burgers without such onions.

U.S. fast-food chains have pulled fresh onions out of their menu items after the vegetable was named as the likely source of an E. coli outbreak.

McDonald’s has pulled the Quarter Pounder from about one-fifth of its U.S. restaurants, including in Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, and in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Past E. coli outbreaks have hampered sales at big fast-food restaurants as customers avoid affected chains.

— Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh

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The largest U.S. automaker said the recall covers various Cadillac CT4 and CT5; Buick Envision; Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles from the 2020 through 2023 model years.

The recall covers 740,000 U.S. vehicles and 85,000 in Canada.

GM said the body control module software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air update to address the issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the vehicles do not comply with a U.S. federal vehicle safety standard and glare could reduce visibility and increase the risk of a crash.

The recall is an expansion of a recall GM announced in November for the sale issue. GM said it is not aware of any injuries or accidents related to the recall.

The recall was prompted after a GM engineer submitted a report about the issue in October prompting a company investigation.

— David Shepardson reports on the U.S. transport sector for Reuters from Washington, D.C.

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The U.S. is working with manufacturers to allow more importation of baby formula, Biden told reporters in the Rose Garden. “We’re going to be, in a matter of weeks or less, getting significantly more formula on shelves,” he said.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said earlier Friday the FDA will announce plans next week detailing how manufacturers and suppliers abroad will be able to import their products into the United States, as well as new options for U.S. companies.

The FDA is aiming for a streamlined process that will get more products on U.S. shelves while meeting safety, quality and labeling standards, Carliff said. The US$4 billion annual U.S. baby formula market is dominated by domestic producers, with imports limited and subject to high tariffs .

“Our data indicates that in stock rates in retail stores are stabilizing but we continue to work around the clock to further increase availability,” Carliff said on Twitter.

The Biden administration this week has come under increasing pressure to address the problem, which has roots in a February recall of some formulas by one of the nation’s main manufacturers, Abbott Laboratories.

U.S. agencies have been investigating bacterial infections caused by the infant formula manufactured at Abbott’s Sturgis facility in Michigan.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now closed its investigation on Abbott’s formula, with no additional cases of infections, according to a notice posted Friday on the FDA website.

According to Health Canada, which oversaw a parallel recall of Abbott formula in the Canadian market, the recalls were based on the potential risk of contamination with salmonella and Cronobacter sakazakii. The latter is “not commonly linked to human illness (but) in rare cases it can cause serious or fatal infections.”

Many U.S. parents rely on baby formula. Fewer than half of babies born in the United States were exclusively breast-fed through their first three months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020 Breastfeeding Report Card.

Abbott’s recall affected formulas, including certain Similac products, made at a Michigan plant after complaints about bacterial infections in infants who had consumed the products.

The shortages have been compounded by supply-chain snags and historic inflation, leaving about 40 per cent of baby formula products out of stock nationwide, data firm Datasembly said.

Biden met on Thursday with executives from infant formula manufacturers and retailers, pressing them to do everything possible to get families access.

Retailers said their top ask is more flexibility on the types of formula they can sell, while consumers need more flexibility on the types they can buy, particularly through the ‘WIC’ program for low-income families, the White House said.

The nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children is a federal assistance scheme administered by U.S. states. Biden told reporters retailers such as Walmart were also looking for flexibility about the amounts of formula WIC users could buy.

Abbott said on Friday it has shipped millions of cans of infant formula powder into the United States from its Ireland facility, particularly to serve consumers who use the WIC program for low-income families.

In states where Abbott has the WIC contract, the company said it will pay rebates on competing products if Similac is not available through August.

About half of infant formula nationwide is purchased by participants using WIC benefits, the White House said, and rules set by individual states have a big effect on the availability and distribution of infant formula.

“The shortage has taken an especially dangerous toll on women and children from underserved communities,” U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

The House of Representatives next week will bring up a bill to grant emergency authority to the WIC program to address supply-chain disruptions and recalls by relaxing non-safety-related regulations, she said in a statement on Friday.

Pelosi also said an emergency spending bill to address the infant formula shortage would advance in the House.

In other measures on Capitol Hill, the House Oversight Committee said it plans to investigate the four largest manufacturers of baby formula and seek answers on how to ramp up production and avoid any future shortage.

The committee said on Friday it sent letters seeking information to Abbott Nutrition, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestle and Perrigo.

The shortage poses a threat to families throughout the country, the letter said, “particularly those with less income who have historically experienced health in equities.”

Two other House committees — Energy and Commerce, and Appropriations — planned hearings on the issue.

— Reporting for Reuters by Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, Jeff Mason and Richard Cowan in Washington and Ankur Banerjee and Leroy Leo in Bangalore. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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The limits come after top supplier Abbott Laboratories in February recalled some baby formula including Similac made at its plant in Michigan over complaints of bacterial infections in infants who consumed the products.

CVS said it last month limited in-store and online purchases of the products to three per order, while Walgreens issued a similar cap in March. Kroger has a limit of four products per customer and Target has had restrictions on online sales for weeks.

Abbott said on Tuesday it was “doing everything” it can to address the shortage, including prioritizing production of the products and air shipping them from its U.S. drug regulator-approved facility in Ireland.

The company is also working closely with the Food and Drug Administration to restart operations at its Michigan facility, a spokesperson said. No formula that has been distributed has tested positive for bacteria, according to the company.

Similac, whose listed ingredients include skim milk, whey powder and soy and sunflower oils, was also subject to a recall in the Canadian market effective Feb. 17.

The product was also sold nationally in Canada but the federal health department said, at the time, that while cases of illness have been reported in the U.S., none had yet been reported in Canada.

The recalls are based on the potential risk of contamination with salmonella and Cronobacter sakazakii. The latter is “not commonly linked to human illness (but) in rare cases it can cause serious or fatal infections,” Health Canada said.

Abbott is the leading supplier of milk formula in the U.S., with a market share of about 42 per cent in 2021, followed by British consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser with a nearly 38 per cent share, according to Euromonitor data.

About 40 per cent of baby formula products were out of stock across the U.S. last month, said Ben Reich, the chief executive of data firm Datasembly.

Supply chain snags, product recalls and historic inflation have compounded the shortage, he added.

— Reporting for Reuters by Deborah Sophia, Manas Mishra and Leroy Leo in Bangalore; additional reporting by Richa Naidu in London. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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Montreal-based Evive Nutrition, known in part for its pitch on CBC TV’s Dragons’ Den in 2019, is recalling its Evive brand Immunity Super Functional Smoothie from the marketplace, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said late Friday.

The company makes several flavours and types of blender-free frozen smoothie cubes, which can be mixed with liquids and shaken after the cubes thaw. The cubes are marketed via the company’s website.

The recall on the Immunity smoothies is due to the presence of raw elderberries, which contain cyanogenic glycosides, a natural toxin, CFIA said.

Found naturally in raw elderberries, cyanogenic glycosides can release cyanide after being eaten, the agency said — and while the human body can eliminate small amounts of cyanide, larger amounts can result in cyanide poisoning, “which could lead to death.”

CFIA said this particular recall was “triggered by consumer complaints” and there have been reported illnesses associated with consumption of the product. The agency didn’t say Friday what kinds of illness were reported.

Anyone who thinks they became sick from consuming a recalled product is advised to call a doctor, CFIA said. Symptoms of cyanide poisoning can range from weakness and confusion, anxiety, restlessness, headache, nausea, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath up to loss of consciousness, seizures and cardiac arrest.

Consumers should otherwise check to see if they have the recalled product at home. A recalled product shouldn’t be consumed but should be thrown out or, where possible, returned to its point of purchase.

Evive’s Immunity product is sold in 150-gram packages (see below) with the lot number H202131213 and best-before date 2023 MA 06; H202132113 and 2023 MA 18; and/or H202134213 and 2023 JN 08.

Evive, in business since 2015, launched the Immunity Super Functional Smoothie in November 2021, billing it on its Facebook page as a “meticulously crafted” smoothie that’s an “excellent source of 17 vitamins and minerals” and “your complete source of vitamin C for the day.”

“Elderberry and acerola cherry also pack a powerful antioxidant and antiviral punch. They contain flavonoids that fight infection and allow you to better fight off common viruses like cold and flu,” the company said on its website.

Elderberry was among the ingredients declared on the Immunity smoothie’s ingredient list, which also included multiple organic and conventional fruits and vegetables as well as orange juice, chia protein, rosehip powder, maitake and shiitake mushrooms and sunflower seed.

As of late Friday, the company’s website lists the product as “Out of Stock.”

The risk of cyanide poisoning has led to several product recalls in Canada over the past year, related mostly to apricot kernels. CFIA in early 2020 set a maximum level of 20 parts per million of total extractable cyanide in apricot kernels sold as food.

In elderberries’ case, according to a University of Florida Extension document on cultivating the crop, any plant materials other than the ripe fruit and flowers — that is, parts such as stems, leaves, and green or underripe berries — should not be consumed.

Ripening of many varieties of elderberry fruit isn’t necessarily uniform in a single orchard or even a single cluster, UF said, so “proper sorting of fruit is essential to remove green and underripe berries” along with any fine stems still attached.

Done properly, processing and heating are also known to break down the cyanogenic glucosides in elderberries, UF said.

In all, it said, the fruit’s handling requirements “necessitate an approach to marketing the crop in a manner that eliminates any toxicity concern for the consumer.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The second-largest U.S. automaker identified about 8,800 Ford Ranger 2004-06 trucks in Canada and 144,340 in the U.S. that could have obsolete Takata parts. Ford said it could not locate 45 inflators that could have been installed and was recalling all of the vehicles “at the request of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration” (NHTSA).

Ford also said on Thursday it was separately recalling a group of 1,100 vehicles from the 2004 to 2011 model years that may also have had obsolete Takata service parts.

Last month, Ford said it would comply with an earlier NHTSA request to recall three million vehicles with potentially defective driver-side Takata air bags and would take a US$610 million charge.

NHTSA rejected a formal petition from Ford to avoid a recall.

The defect, which leads in rare instances to air bag inflators rupturing and sending potentially deadly metal fragments flying, prompted the largest automotive recall in U.S. history of more than 67 million inflators. Worldwide, about 100 million inflators installed by 19 major automakers have been recalled.

Also last month, NHTSA said at least 17 million U.S. vehicles with Takata air bags remain unrepaired.

Takata inflators have resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people worldwide and 18 in the United States, and over 400 reported injuries.

Two people died in Takata air bag ruptures in previously recalled 2006 Ford Ranger vehicles, with the most recent death in 2017.

In November, NHTSA said it was rejecting a petition filed by General Motors to avoid recalling 5.9 million U.S. vehicles with Takata inflators. GM said later it was taking a US$1.1 billion charge as a result of the recall.

— Reporting for Reuters by David Shepardson in Washington, D.C.

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The food was found to have potentially unsafe levels of aflatoxins, a byproduct of mould, and the company is expanding its voluntary recall of pet foods issued on Dec. 30.

“As of January 11, 2021, FDA is aware of more than 70 pets that have died and more than 80 pets that are sick after eating Sportmix pet food,” the agency said.

Aflatoxin can grow on corn and other grains used in pet foods, according to the FDA. At high levels, it can cause illness and death.

The Evansville, Indiana-based company, which has been family-owned since 1926, said in a statement that until recently it has never had a product recall.

The product recall includes Midwestern brands Sportmix, Pro Pac Originals, Splash, Sportstrail and Nunn Better dry dog and cat foods produced at its Oklahoma factory, the company said.

“We continue a thorough review of our facilities and practices in full co-operation with FDA in an effort to better serve our customers and pet parents who have put their trust in us,” the company said.

The FDA said that the actual number of dead and sickened animals might not be reflected in its count.

The agency said it “continues to work with veterinarians and state partners to follow up on suspected cases of aflatoxin poisoning.”

Symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning include sluggishness, loss of appetite and vomiting, the FDA said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Rich McKay in Atlanta.

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Agropur on Friday announced a voluntary recall of certain bagged and cartoned milks made at its Ottawa processing plant and sold under the Sealtest and L’ecole c’est nourrissant brands, after an internal check found “sanitizer residues.”

The products affected, as of Jan. 27, are listed below.

The co-operative, one of the 20 biggest dairy processors in the world, said it announced the recall of the products in the wake of an investigation after “one reported complaint of discomfort associated with the consumption of a product.”

Agropur said it has asked all of its clients to pull the specific products from their shelves and inventory and has contacted the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is overseeing the voluntary recall.

CFIA on Friday advised Quebec and Ontario consumers to see if they have the recalled products in their homes, and to either throw out the recalled products or return them to the stores where they were bought.

Food contaminated with sanitizer residue may not look or smell spoiled and “should not be consumed,” CFIA said, adding that consuming the affected product may cause symptoms such as nausea, upset stomach or vomiting.

No other products, formats, brands or “best before” dates are affected other than those listed below, Agropur said.

The Sealtest brand, which originated in the U.S. in the 1940s, is today owned by Unilever and used by Agropur in Canada under license on milk, cream, sour cream, cottage cheese and lemonade products. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

Correction from source, Jan. 27 — The article and table below have been updated with corrected information from CFIA.

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The second-largest U.S. automaker said the recall covers certain models between the years 2017 and 2019 with carpet flooring that could experience a post-crash interior fire.

According to the statement, in affected vehicles a front seat belt pretensioner that deploys during a crash could generate excessive sparks and possibly ignite a fire.

Ford said it was aware of one report of a fire related to this condition in the United States, and was not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.

The affected vehicles were built in Ford’s Kentucky truck plant between Oct. 8, 2015 and Oct. 29, 2019, the company said.

The recall impacts 490,574 vehicles in the U.S. and federal territories, 56,112 in Canada, and 852 in Mexico, Ford said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Dominic Roshan K. L.

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The Toronto company, along with St. Ann’s Food, announced a recall Tuesday of a long list of its products because of concerns with E. coli O157:H7. More products were added to the recall on Thursday.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it suspended the licence of the company because the beef processor “failed to implement effective control measures in accordance with Part 4 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR).” Part 4 describes controls that have to be applied in order to reduce risks.

Why it matters: Ontario farmers already have limited options for selling their beef cattle for processing. One less makes the market even tighter.

CFIA says the plant’s original licence suspension, in late September, related to ground pork, ground beef and burger products that were recalled by Alpha Meat Packers/Salaison Alpha at Anjou, Que.

The company got the affected products from Ryding-Regency Meat Packers.

“While Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) is very concerned about this situation and the impact on Ontario beef producers, we have full confidence in our regulatory system and will be reviewing the findings of the CFIA investigation when they become available,” the organization said in a statement.

“We have been assured by the leadership at Ryding-Regency that they are actively working with CFIA to resolve the issues that have been identified, with the goal of minimizing time out of the market.”

BFO encourages beef producers who ship to Ryding-Regency to contact the buyer they deal with.

— John Greig is editor of Farmtario.

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